


Pulling Pigtails

by pikasafire



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 04:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1374295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikasafire/pseuds/pikasafire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sunshine will prank everyone but Kris. It's not like Kris <i>cares</i> or anything, but... it's kinda weird.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pulling Pigtails

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on my phone while I was stuck at LAX at the end of last year. I found it still on my phone this morning and had a quick scan through for mistakes but didn't really do a hard edit -- sorry if I missed anything!

Sunshine is aptly named. It's a joke the first few times someone says it, "Easy there, Sunshine," but he's got the blonde hair, the blue eyes and the smile and dimples and it kinda sticks.

It doesn't help that it takes less than a week for him to buddy up with Duper and Nealer and then he's a terror, joking around with a huge grin on his face with anyone who stands still for longer than thirty seconds.

Except for Tanger.

It's weird. Normally, if rookies are shy with anyone, it's Sid. But Sunshine'll trail Sidney around the locker room, making fun of his shoes, his wrist shot, the way his hair sticks up after he takes his helmet off. Sunshine will stuff candies into Flower's gear, shove a shaving cream pie in Duper's face. No one's off limits.

Except for Tanger.

It's not really anything that should bother him, Tanger's had teammates he didn't really like before, but he can't think of anything he's said or done to make Sunshine _not_ like him.

"Do you think it's weird-" He starts, slumped over one side of Flower's couch, watching him fail miserably at Call of Duty. He hesitates. Maybe he's being over-sensitive about this.

"I think _you're_ weird." flower says automatically, jerking his controller as someone shoots him from behind "Oh for- fuck you!"

"No, I mean Sunshine."

Flower tosses the controller to the side as the menu screen comes up. "He's pretty weird."

"He doesn't like me, I don't think." Kris turns his beer bottle over in his hand, feeling awkward.

There's a pause and when Kris looks up, Flower's just staring at him, eyebrow raised. "Did we just go back to middle school?" He asks, "What the fuck?"

"No-" Kris can feel his face flush, "I don't care. Whatever." It's a total lie, "I just think it's weird, that's all. Like, he jokes around with you guys. I don't think he's ever even spoken to me."

"Awww," Flower reaches over, tugs at Kris' hair in the way he knows Kris _hates_. "Feeling left out?"

"Fuck off." Kris grumbles, shoving his hand away. "I'm just saying it's weird. That's all."

The grin on Flower's face says that Tanger's going to be hearing about this for at least the next hour. "Did you want him to be your date to Homecoming? Did you want to have a slumber party and have him braid your hair?"

"You're an asshole."

"You love me."

"No, I don't." It's automatic, and Flower laughs.

"Sure you do. You'd bang me if I was a chick."

Kris kicks out, pushing his foot into Flower's thigh. "If you wore a bag over your head. And I gagged you so I would have to hear _or_ see you."

Flower doesn't seem bothered, twisting on the couch and kicking back. "Kinky. Does Sunshine know you're into that shit?" He lands a kick right where Kris _knows_ Flower knows there's a bruise from last night game.

"I swear to god-" Kris doesn't know why he bothers telling Flower anything.

*

"Hey, Sunshine?" The smile on Flower's face bodes well for no one.

Sunshine is either incredibly naive or stupid or both because he looks up eagerly, "Yeah?"

Flower leans forward, glancing around like he's imparting a secret; like he's _not_ talking loud enough for the whole locker room to hear. "You know Letang here has a thing for bondage?"

"I-" Sunshine, for the first time Kris can remember, looks uncertain. "Really?"

Kris stares in disbelief. There's no use stepping in now; Kris learned his lesson. Better to let Flower run out of steam rather than digging himself deeper trying to defend himself.

"Yep," Flower continues. "Said he'd gag me if we fucked."

Sunshine's eyes dart to Kris for a moment. "Uh."

"I did not!" Kris says before he can stop himself. Well, so much for that plan. "If you were a chick!" Wait, that's not quite right.

Flowers grin says it all. "You said it, not me."

Sunshine just looks between them. "Right." He says, and turns his attention back to tying his laces.

*

"You're right." Flower says when they're taking a break on the ice, "That was prime material I gave him. He should have run with that. Weird."

Kris resists the urge to hit him with his stick. "You're an asshole."

"You know, you keep telling me that. Every single day. One day, I'm going to believe it."

"If it hasn't happened yet, I doubt it." Kris leans on his stick, watching the forwards run a passing drill. "I don't know what the problem is."

"Mine?"

"Sunshine's." Kris rolls his eyes, "Not everything's about you."

"I'm the goalie." Flower points out. "It totally is."

Kris elects to ignore that. It's an old argument. "I must've, I don't know, upset him or something."

Flower shrugs, hitting Kris' pads with his stick a little harder than necessary. "Maybe he's offended by your ugly face."

"You're so useful." Kris rolls his eyes, resists the urge to push him over. He got in trouble with coach last time. Flower looks like he knows exactly what he's thinking.

"Goalie." He points out with a grin. "Most important."

Really, the only sensible thing is to skate away, but not before he's poked his stick behind Flower's knee and given it a tug. "Whoops." He says innocently as Flower drops to the ice. "My bad."

*

It lingers in the back of his mind now that Kris knows it's not just paranoia. He watches Sunshine closely from the bench during practice, watching the way he jokes with the guys on the ice.

"You're being creepy, man." Sid says, sliding across the bench to bump Kris gently.

"What? How?"

Sid shrugs, "You're staring at Sunshine. You've been doing it for ages."

"No, I'm not. I haven't!" Kris says automatically but he can feel his face flush tellingly.

There's a pause. "Is there a problem?" Sid asks. It's quiet, expressionless. He's pulling his 'Captain' schtick. Kris _hates_ it when he does that.

"Everything's fine." This is awkward, and Kris tries to shrug if off, bends to check his laces even though he knows that there's about eight miles of tape holding them down. "He's a nice kid."

"Yeah." Sid says. He nudges him. "The others have noticed you looking." He says. "Just a heads up."

Well. Shit. "I haven't even been staring." Kris whines, even though he knows it's a total lie. He stares at the ground instead, talking to his feet more than anything, but Sid's kind of useful for advice sometimes and, really, he probably knows Sunshine best. Plus, this is driving Kris crazy. "I was ... just trying to figure out why he doesn't like me." It's muttered and quiet but Sid catches it anyway.

"He likes you." Sid says automatically. It's an empty reassurance but Kris appreciates the effort. "Why would you think he doesn't?"

Kris doesn't really want to explain his theory. It sounds stupid out loud. "I don't know." He shrugs, "Just a feeling, I guess."

Sid nudges him, "Hey. He's a rookie. He's probably just shy."

"Yeah." Kris agrees. More to get Sidney to shut up more than anything else. Sunshine is far from shy, and surely, if he was going to be shy about anyone, it'd be with _Sidney Crosby_.

Wrong or not, Kris is grateful for Sid's warning after practice, when Duper sidles up to him, shoving him playfully into his stall. "So," he says, "When are you going to ask Sunshine to the school dance? I saw you watching him."

Playing dumb is really the only thing to do and Kris is grateful that he was at least expecting it. "What?"

"Bring him home before midnight," Duper tells him. "Or you'll both be grounded."

"Who's wearing the dress?" Someone shouts over the laughs of the locker room.

Sunshine looks confused, but he's grinning, happy to let the boys make fun. "What's going on?"

It's Engel who pipes up. Dirty traitor. Kris makes a mental note to trip him next practice. "Kris was watching you." Engel teases, "I think he wants to ask you to the school dance."

There's the round of friendly mocking and jeers but Kris knows he's not imagining the way Sunshine freezes up, his smile that little bit forced, not playing up to it the way he would have if it was anyone else.

What the fuck?

*

Nothing seems to come of the teasing after that, easily forgotten, things returning to the status quo. Sunshine is still a pain in everyone's ass.

Except for Kris.

"Would you just," Flower waves a hand, "Like, get over it? I mean, it was funny at first and now it's just kinda weird. Do you actually have some weird man-crush on him or something?"

"Don't be stupid." Kris says, "He's, like, five years old."

"That's not a no. That just means you're a creepy old man."

"I'm not old!"

"You're not denying it either."

"I don't have a man-crush on Sunshine. What the fuck?" Though there's that little traitorous part of Kris' brain that can appreciate those eyes and dimples and Kris could pretty much guarantee that Sunshine would be enthusiastic... " _No_."

Flower just watches him, "Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you take a puck to the head when I wasn't looking?"

"It's nothing." Kris mutters, but now he's thinking about it and he can't unthink it. He runs a hand through his hair, knowing it's a tell. "You're the worst."

Flower stares at him indignantly, "I didn't even do anything yet." He says. "Look, If I have to listen to you cry about how Sunshine isn't your best friend, like the awesome person I am, you're going to buy me pizza." He reaches over to poke Kris in the side of the head. "C'mon. Buy me food and I'll pretend to listen about your tragic jail-bait crush."

"It's not a crush." Kris insists, but it falls on deaf ears. He sighs and reaches for the phone. "You're the worst."

Flower grins. "I might be the worst, but I can totally fix this."

*

Flowers solution _sucks_.

"Kris thinks you hate him." Flower says, shoving Kris forward.

"Wha-" Kris spins, glaring daggers. "No!" But Flower's already ducked out of punching range and into the trainer's room. Kris is just grateful that Flower at least picked an abandoned corridor, though Kris has the feeling that's more luck than design.

"I don't hate you." Sunshine says, glancing between Kris and the door Flower just disappeared through. "Why would you think that?" He looks confused.

Kris has never felt so embarrassed before in his life. "I know you don't," he says quickly. "Ignore him. It's just Flower being an idiot."

"No, it's not!" The muffled shout through the door. "It's Kris acting like you kicked his puppy because you won't pull his pigtails." There's a pause, the door opening and Flower's head poking around the doorframe, "That's not as dirty as it sounds. Though-"

Kris is going to punch him in the balls. "Finish that sentence and I swear to God, I'll murder you."

"He's always threatening me." Flower complains, turning to Sunshine like he's going to do something about it.

"You always deserve it." Kris points out.

"What?" Sunshine frowns. "What does that even mean?"

"Just pull his pigtails." Flower says before ducking back into the safety of the trainers room. "Literally or figuratively!" He shouts, "He likes both."

Kris is going to punch him in the balls and then put a spider in his bed. "Ignore him." He says, gives Sunshine a reassuring smile that, if the expression on Sunshine's face is anything to go by, is more of a grimace.

"Wait. You think I don't like you? Why would I like you?"

"I don't think that." Denial is always the best option.

Sunshine still looks unsure. "Okay?" He says.

Kris' heart sinks a little. This is his chance to get an answer, but oh God, does it have to be so _awkward_? He speaks quickly, like ripping off a bandaid. "It's just- you never prank me. I'm the only one you don't prank."

"But, I didn't think you liked being pranked." Sunshine says, furrowing his brow. "I thought that Flower and Engel were, like, the exceptions. They prank you, but they're the only ones."

It seems weird. Duper and Sid and Nealer and Geno give him shit all the time. But that's not really the point. "But. You prank people who don't like being pranked all the time." Kris doesn't really know how to explain it. "Like, Craig hates being pranked and you still prank him. Why not me?" He cringes at how pathetic that sounds out loud.

Sunshine shrugs, "I don't care if I piss Craig off." He says, "Except for that one time where I glued all the pages of his book together. He was actually mad about that." A pause, "I mean. I can prank you," he says, still looking confused. "If you want. I don't know why you'd _want_ to be pranked, but-"

"No, it's-" Oh God, this is actually getting worse. Now he's going to feel like he's _asked_ Sunshine to prank him and he'll be pity-pranked, and why does this feel a whole lot like middle school? Kris hasn't felt this uncomfortable in a conversation since he was a teenager. "Just don't worry about it. It's cool." Kris doesn't want to say that he runs away, but that's exactly what he does. "I should- uh. Go. I'll catch you tomorrow, yeah?" And he turns tail and runs away.

*

Flower turns up later that evening. "So," he asks, "How did it go?"

Kris lets him inside before he punches him hard in the arm. "You. Are dead meat."

"Ow!" Flower rubs his arm, looking betrayed. "What was that for?"

"I'll punch you again." Kris threatens, "I can't believe you did that."

Flower shrugs, following Kris to the living room and flopping onto the couch. "Look, now he knows you think he hates you, and you have an answer, right? Which is that he doesn't hate you at all. And we can all stop hearing about it. Everyone wins."

"It's not like that."

Flower groans,"oh my _God_. You're worse than a teenager. Just admit you want to bone the dude. Seriously. For fuck's sake, you're not a fifteen year old girl."

"I don-"

"I swear to god. If you lie and say you don't want to bone him, I will call him right now and tell him you're a lying liar who lies."

Kris is silent for a moment. "But, he's a _baby_."

Flower rolls his eyes, "You're, what? Five years older? Suck it up."

"I-" Flower might actually have a point. Not that it matters. "He's a teammate."

The pillow Flower throws at him is thrown with more force than normal. "So? We've fucked around and no one died. Get over yourself."

"Maybe." Kris isn't convinced, but Flowers giving him that look that means that Kris is going to get punched if he doesn't agree, so Kris shrugs. "I guess."

Flower leans forward. "Think about it. You've spent, like, three months obsessing over whether some rookie likes you. You're worried he doesn't because he hasn't been pranking you. That's not normal, dude." He sits back, like he's won.

Kris isn't entirely sure he hasn't.

*

There's a 90% chance that it's Flower's idea to get everyone drunk after the Ranger's game a few weeks later.

Nothing's really changed in those weeks. Sunshine talks a bit more, but Kris feels awkward, like he's forcing Sunshine to be friendly. Plus, Kris can't really deny it now, he likes Sunshine. A lot. It's compounding the awkwardness because Kris doesn't know Sunshine; it's not like it was with Flower.

It shouldn't be a surprise that Kris gets stuck on babysitting duty, Sunshine pushed towards him by Sid. "I'm taking Olli," Sid says, "Make sure Sunshine gets home, would you?" And there's not really much that Kris can say to that, Flower grinning at him, a thumbs up as Kris drags an inebriated rookie down the street.

"I don't mean to be mean." Sunshine says, focusing hard on his steps as they walk.

"You're not mean." Kris says.

It's dangerously close to a pout. "You thought I was mean."

Kris tries not to smile. "No, I didn't." He says, "I thought you didn't like me."

"I didn't want to prank you," Sunshine says, swaying a little on his feet, "because I didn't want you to _know_ I liked you."

"Wh-" Kris frowns, running the words over in his head wondering for a moment if he's forgotten English. "You don't prank me because you like me. That doesn't even make sense. You like Sid." He moves closer to Sunshine's side, steadying him as they walk towards Sunshine's apartment. Sid will never forgive him if he lets the rookie wander into traffic and Sunshine's faltering a little.

"I prank Sid all the time," Sunshine giggles, his head rolling to the side. He stumbles against the pavement, "Whoops."

Kris is pretty sure that if he moved right now, Sunshine would fall right over. "Exactly."

"Not exactly!" Sunshine announces, holding a finger in the air like he's going to make an announcement. "It's different. I asked Flower."

Kris is at least eighty percent sure that he only had four drinks, but Sunshine is making no sense at all. Lightweight. "Right. Bedtime." Plus, as soon as someone mentions they've talked to Flower, it never goes well for Kris.

"Are you coming too?" Sunshine asks, pressing a little closer to Kris. It's hard to walk like this, Sunshine plastered against him, practically walking backwards.

There are so many ways Kris could take that. "I'm going to make sure you don't get hit by a car or choke on your own puke." That's kind of an answer, the best he can come up with when Sunshine's so close. He shouldn't smell good, sweat and beer and bar but he _does_ , his body pressed against Kris'. Granted, Kris doubts Sunshine's ability to walk unassisted, but it's almost nice to imagine it for other reasons.

Sunshine stops, suddenly, "I don't hate you," he says.

Oh God, Kris really doesn't want to have this conversation again. "Come on-"

"I _wanted_ to prank you." Sunshine continues, turning to face him properly, "I had all sorts of _awesome_ ideas. But I didn't want you to know I liked you, so I didn't prank you."

"Jesus Christ." Kris mutters. "We really have gone back to middle school." He turns it over in his mind, still confused. "But-"

Sunshine reaches over with clumsy hands, pressing their mouths together. It's messy and uncoordinated, Sunshine's too drunk for it to be anything even approaching good and Kris freezes. His first thought is _fuck_ , followed quickly by _oh God, Flower was right he's going to be impossible_

"S'okay, right?" Sunshine says, still close enough that Kris can feel his breath on his cheek. "Flower said it was alright."

"Kissing in general or that particular kiss?" Kris doesn't even know what he's saying anymore, can't even really guarantee that he's speaking English.

"Mmm." Sunshine's mostly a dead weight now, resting against Kris, pressing his cold nose against his neck. "Both." He says.

Kris wraps an arm around him a little tighter to keep him upright and wonders if Sunshine will remember any of this in the morning. "Yeah." He says, "It's alright." He smiles to himself as they resume stumbling, "We'll talk about it in the morning, yeah?"

Maybe Flower was right. 

Not that Kris will ever tell him that.

*


End file.
